GREATEST HITS - Bruce Springsteen

Track-by-track review by David Gilliver:

Born To Run

It's hardly a surprise that the album opens with this track. Just listen to it:
it leaps out of the speakers and never falters.

Thunder Road

Springsteen was "discovered" by John Hammond, who had also been responsible for
spotting the talent of Bob Dylan. Like Dylan, Springsteen had the same skills
with words, weaving tales with rich images. Over his first two albums, that
talent was in much evidence at the expense of a commercial rock sound. This
track opened the now-classic "Born to Run" and proved that he could
successfully marry his romantic lyricism with the passionate rock that made his
live shows akin to religious experiences. Despite that, I prefer the haunting
acoustic version that opens his live box set, where the complex lyrics sit more
comfortably within a less constrictive arrangement.

Badlands

The track that opened the much-delayed "Darkness on the Edge of Town" album,
this is Springsteen darkening his outlook. Where "Born to Run" was rich with
heroes and romantics, "Badlands" is bleak, the protagonist proclaiming his hope
yet still saying "I pray that some day/It will raise me above the
these/Badlands". This time such a statement isn't a promise: it is little more
than a wish buried in words of desolation and hopelessness.

The River

Springsteen is a masterful story teller, able to conjure images in the
listener's brain with remarkable literary brevity. Of course, that is not
sufficient when writing songs, and Springsteen adopts a reverent and
restrained arrangement which allows the characters to come to life.

Hungry Heart

Well, they did proclaim this album "greatest hits" and not "best of", and this
track proves justifies the title.

Atlantic City

Few rock artists have shown a commitment to their art in the way Springsteen
did with the "Nebraska" album. With a set of rough demos in hand, he entered
the studio and cut classics such as "Born in the USA", but discarded them all
in favour of the bleak atmosphere of his home-recorded demos.

Dancing in the Dark

The last track written for Born in the USA. Although Bruce had recorded a
multitude of songs for it, there was still the feeling that they needed one
more to round it off. Bruce wrote the song overnight and it was recorded the
following day.

Born in the USA

Cut live in the studio on the second take, it is a perfect example of how the
best bands function as a unit. Listen to Max Weinberg's merciless drumming,
tight throughout and then sensational as he plays out the false ending. Listen
to that simple chord pattern Roy Bittan whipped up on his synth. And listen
to the lyrics at the heart of that awesome vocal: therein lies the heart of the
song and the reason for the passion in the performance.

My Hometown

Glory Days

Brilliant Disguise
Bruce's love album was not much of a love album, or at least, not the type of
love album that Celine Dion likes to churn out. Found early on the second side,
Bruce talks about deceit and the difficulty of knowing another person.

Human Touch

Better Days

Streets of Philadelphia

On the surface, it was one of the most unlikely of rock re-births:
Springsteen, all-American rock hero, jumping on the populist AIDS bandwagon
represented by the film "Philadelphia", but in the space of one 3-minute
recording, he captured more genuine emotion than the entire film managed to do.